June 8, 5:00 PM - 8:00 PM Add to Calendar
The region’s most acclaimed jazz musicians are returning to the ever-popular Jazz in The Parks on the Great Lawn this summer! Bring your neighbors and friends for the city’s favorite laid-back summer evenings – listed by Washingtonian magazine as one of the area’s top five outdoor spots to listen to live music just last year! Bring your own picnic, blanket and refreshments, and enjoy popular local food vendors and giveaways. Stop by the wonderful restaurants around the Marketplace, just a block away up 12th Street. Pick up charcuterie (or a pizza!) at Whole Foods, or amazing chicken or noodles from JINYA Ramen Bar. Everything works well for takeout!
The events start at 5 pm with a children’s performer (get ready to dance!), followed at 6 pm by the headliners.
Dates:
See below for more information on each artist!
Location: The Great Lawn is located at the center of the campus. Enter from 16th Street NW, or enter from Georgia Avenue at Butternut Street NW, and follow Main Drive around to the grassy area. 1301 Main Drive NW.
How to Get There: Parking is limited on campus, so walking, scooting, biking, buses, and trains are recommended. The Parks at Walter Reed is a 12-minute walk from the Takoma Metrorail Station on the Red Line, and more than a dozen bus lines run up 16th Street NW and Georgia Avenue NW. Bike parking is available on campus. Some parking is available in on-street spots; please follow the signage.
Thank you to our sponsors! The Parks at Walter Reed events are sponsored by The Reynard, Aspen Square at The Parks by NVHomes, Smoot Construction, Kite House, Ecoverde Solutions, and Streetsense. Without their generous support, our fantastic programming would not be possible.
About the artists:
June 8th
Kids Opener: Company | E presents Letters to Earth, a dance performance geared towards kids.
Company | E is a contemporary repertory dance company, dance education and interdisciplinary arts organization based in the U.S. Capital City of Washington, DC emphasizing international collaborations with the great choreographers, dancers. composers, film-makers and artists at work today.
Jazz Performance: Tarus Mateen
Tarus’s creative genius and mastery of acoustic bass, electric bass, rhythm guitar, and piano make him one of the most sought-after musician/producers in hip-hop, house, blues, rock, reggae, soul, and straight ahead jazz. He is quite possibly the only musician to receive critical acclaim in all these musical genres at once. Since 1996, there has not been a Top 10 jazz album that didn’t feature Tarus Mateen. He has credits in film as well, with trumpeter/composer Terence Blanchard on the scores for Sugar Hill, and for the Spike Lee film Malcolm X, as well as the Grammy nominated Malcolm X Jazz Suite.
Playing as part of a new generation of jazz crusaders, with award winning artists such as Jason Moran, Nasheet Waits, Marc Cary and Roy Hargrove, Tarus is the world’s best bassist.
Tarus performs and records with pianist Jason Moran and The Bandwagon. He also worked with drummer Nasheet Waits, he appeared on two stellar piano trio albums: Marc Cary‘s Trillium and Jason Moran‘s Facing Left.
We are thrilled to present Tarus on the Great Lawn for a fabulous evening of music.
July 13
Kids Opener: Baba Ras D
Beloved kids performer Baba Ras D brings the “Harambe Experience” and performs inspirational songs of love and community. Enjoyed by kids and adults of all ages!
Jazz Performance: Integriti Reeves
Integriti Reeves is a dynamic vocal powerhouse whose “Modern Vintage” style embodies the past, present, and future of the genre. Her voice elicits comparisons to the dulcet purity of Ella Fitzgerald and the smoky effortlessness of Nat King Cole. Her debut solo EP Stairway To The Stars was released in March of 2014, and it features an eclectic mix of jazz standards, Brazilian rhythms, and pop influences. She has since performed with many renowned contemporary jazz and pop artists including Herbie Hancock, Ernie Andrews, Geri Allan, Esperanza Spaulding, Stevie Wonder, Bobby Mcferrin, Terri Lyne Carrington, Liz Wright, Patrice Rushen, Hugh Masekela, and Smokey Robinson. She has also performed as a featured soloist with the National Symphony Orchestra. She is a graduate of DC’s Duke Ellington School of the Arts and Baltimore’s Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University. After receiving the Max Corzilius Scholarship, she studied under the tutelage of renowned vocalist Jay Clayton at Peabody, and took private lessons from Howard University Jazz Professor Connaitre Miller. In 2013 Ms. Reeves served as an Artist-In-Residence at the prestigious Music Center at Strathmore. In early 2014 she participated in the highly selective Betty Carter’s Jazz Ahead program, a residency for young composers and performers held at the Kennedy Center. In May of that same year, Ms. Reeves received the degree of Master of Music from Howard University.
August 10
Kids Opener: Baba Ras D
Beloved kids performer Baba Ras D brings the “Harambe Experience” and performs inspirational songs of love and community. Enjoyed by kids and adults of all ages!
Jazz Performance: Elijah Easton w/ Allyn Johnson, Kris Funn, and Quincy Phillips.
If you know, you know. Slowly and quietly building a well-deserved loyal following, tenor saxophonist Elijah Easton pays tribute to the jazz greats with a power house band of local all stars that have performed all over the world. As the Hemingway Room describes it, Elijah’s performances are a captivating journey, seamlessly shifting from soulful, contemplative melodies that stir the heart to toe-tapping rhythms that move the body and breathe new life into contemporary music.
Over the years, Elijah Easton has honed his craft and shared the stage with some of the brightest stars in the jazz world. His impressive collaborations include renowned artists such as Jon Batiste, Wynton Marsalis, Paquito D’Rivera, Benny Golson, Marc Cary, Citizen Cope, The Lincoln Center Big Band, and the iconic DJ Jazzy Jeff, among many others. He’s graced prestigious stages ranging from the legendary Blue Note and Dizzy’s Club to the illustrious Kennedy Center and the White House.
Today, Elijah Easton stands as one of the most sought-after musicians in the DMV region, showcasing his talent and dedication. Catch these local stars while you can!
Sept 7th
Kids Opener: Music with Mr. Rob
Jazz Performance: Lenny Robinson & Exploration with Special Guest Marshall Keys
Born in Philadelphia and raised in Baltimore, Lenny Robinson attended Morgan State University as well as the Peabody Conservatory of Music studying with Charles M phis, Principal Percussionist with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. While still in college, he did a European tour with a theatrical jazz ensemble performing at several festivals including Montreux, North Sea and others. After leaving college, he performed with several R&B groups including Jean Carne, Roy Ayers, The O’Jays and others. He then joined the 26th Army Band in Brooklyn, New York, where he also became a part of the New York jazz community. He formed a band that included such artists as Onaje Alan Gumbs, John Purcell, Anthony Cox and the late Kenny Kirkland. After leaving the Army, Lenny moved to the Washington, DC, area where he quickly became one of the most in demand drummers in town performing with such artists as Clifford Jordon, George Col, Archie Shepp, Larry Willis, Dewey Redman, Ronnie Mathews, John Hicks, Buster Williams, Roy Hargrove and others. He also has gone on the road with such artists as Ahmad Jamal, Lou Donaldson, Vanessa Rubin, Don Braden, and Stanley Turrentine’s working band.
Marshall Keys is a native of Washington DC, Marshall began began in the DC Youth Orchestra Program, then flirted with jazz studies at Howard University, all the while working with legendary jazz musicians like Jimmy Witherspoon, Jimmy Heath, Pepper Adams, Miriam Makeba, Jimmy Scott, Stevie Wonder, and the blues organistJimmy McGriff with which he recorded the album “Countdown”.
The most resume friendly span of Marshalls’ long career probably begins with the Kennedy Center Tribute to Lionel Hampton in 1981. Marshall performed the iconic “Flying Home” along with Milt Hinton, Al Grey, Clark Terry, Zoot Sims, Illinois Jacquet and Lionel Hampton. There was the Commission by the Smithsonian Institute to perform the works of Wayne Shorter, performing and speaking at the Romare Bearden Exhibit when it opened at the National Gallery of Art, tours to Central and South America, Guinea and West Africa as well as festival performances in the UK, France, Mexico, Indonesia, Germany, Ireland, The Netherlands and the US Virgin Islands.